


Musings on Growth and Change

by AXEe



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Character Study, F/F, F/M, Gen, High School Reunions, Jeremiah's staying dead, MAJOR Spoilers for "Midvale", No Karamel EVER, No Mon-El period for that matter, Past Sanvers, musings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-02 07:29:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12722253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: At her high school reunion, Alex muses on how much she's changed and how far she still has to go





	Musings on Growth and Change

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Here's another General Danvers fic, inspired by the recent episode "Midvale". Now, if you haven't seen this episode, I wholeheartedly encourage you to, _this_ is what the show's been missing since Season Two. As for this fic, I don't want to say its a General Danvers or a Karaoslen take on the episode, so it's more of a follow up to it. Anyway, enjoy :=)

******

_**“Such a thing is the human race. Sometimes it seems a pity that Noah didn’t miss the boat”** _

\--Mark Twain

******

“Come on!” Kara wheedled “don’t be such a grump! It’ll be fun!”

“ ‘Fun’?” Alex echoed “fun? I think you and I have two very different ideas of ‘fun’, Kara”

“Come on! Think about all the people we’re going to see again!” Kara encouraged

“Yeah, people who hated me the first time round, and who’ll hate me just as much this time”

“Alex!”

“Hey, I didn’t even want to go to this stupid reunion, OK? You and Mom ganged up on me”

Sitting behind the two bickering sisters in the backseat of the car as it wound its way down the Pacific Coast Highway, Astra leaned towards James

“I was once in a battle that claimed the lives of close to a hundred people,” she began quietly “and, right now, I would much rather be back there than have to listen to this any longer”

Squished between her and two piles of luggage, James chuckled as the sisters continued bickering, both seemingly ignorant of their significant others’ conversation

“We’re here!” Kara announced cheerfully as the car glided through the very small town of Midvale, California

“So, Alex,” James began “exactly how many people live here?”

Alex shrugged “It depends; some of them are tourists who rent cabins down by the beach for the summer, and others are retirees from down south who moved up from places like LA or National City. So…I dunno, about a couple hundred or so, maybe less, let’s say? Its small enough that word travels fast and most people know each other”

“You don’t sound too pleased with that description” Astra noted

“Let’s just say that, growing up, I couldn’t wait to get out of here” Alex murmured as she readjusted her sunglasses, the breeze rustling her hair…

******

They drove for about an hour more. Most of Midvale seemed to be residential neighborhoods, with a few small, mom-and-pop businesses here and there, which were probably owned and operated by people who’s customers were their own neighbors, which was probably how almost everyone in town got to know each other.

Looking around, Astra could see how everyone could get know each other, the town itself was actually quite large, at least in terms of area, spread out over a series of large wooded areas which slowly grew it into someone’s backyard.

More than once, as they drove down the roads, Astra had been surprised to see a house suddenly appear between the tall, old-growth trees, sometimes there had been people lounging in the backyard, who would wave as the car passed, probably more impressed with the car than its passengers. Astra had to hand it to J’onn, the Martian had very good taste in cars, even if it lacked modern emission standards.

Despite the palpable tension coming off the Danvers sisters in waves, Astra was determined to enjoy this little, rare R&R. So, she spent the next half hour it took to get to Eliza’s home sightseeing, chatting with James, or just enjoying the way the wind from the opened convertible rustled her hair.

“OK, here we are!” Kara announced pulling to a stop outside Eliza Danvers’ beach house. Astra sat up, inhaling deeply as she breathed in the sea air. Climbing out of the car (simply hopping over the side), she grabbed her plain duffel bag and held out Alex’s to her, which Alex took from her with a muttered _’thanks’_ and then hurried off to the house.

Astra looked across the car to James as he grabbed his own two bags. James just shrugged

“Just let her cool off” he advised as he grabbed his own two bags. He, Astra, and Alex were all light packers, each of them having one or—at most—two bags each; the pile of luggage that had taken up most of the space in the backseat (and a portion of the trunk space) during the two hour drive from National City belonged to Kara, and no one but Kara knew exactly what was in them.

In fact, Astra wasn’t sure if she _wanted_ to know what was in them, especially considering the entire outing was meant to be a short affair. They’d spend the night at Eliza’s, go see some sights the next day, attend the reunion at the high school that evening, spend the nigh again, and then be on the road back to National City before noon the next day.

Slinging her duffel on her shoulder, Astra ignored Kara’s calls for someone to help her unload her bags from the car and followed the winding path up to the house, pausing halfway.

It was an inviting house, she thought, cozy would be a good word to describe it, the long, winding wood staircase that, presumably, wound its way down the bluff towards the beach looked very inviting indeed, and Astra was tempted to forgo hellos and just rush out to the water, but no, she wanted to say hi to Eliza first.

 _Then_ she might run down the beach and play in the surf.

Smirking, she took her time walking up the porch, partly due to wanting to enjoy the scenery and also partly out of nerves. She’d met Eliza Danvers before, but that time she’d been introduced to Eliza simply as ‘Kara’s aunt’ and _not_ as ‘Alex’s girlfriend’, even though she’d been sharing Alex’s apartment (and her bed) for close to two years now. How would Eliza react? Would Alex even tell her? Or would she leave Astra to hold that particular ticking time bomb?

“Astra”

She jumped at James’ voice, looking up to see him frowning at her

“Nervous?” he asked

“Terrified” she admitted

“You know,” he began “I don’t think Eliza will be too upset”

Astra chuckled bitterly “You’re assuming that Alex even tells her” she pointed out. James nodded, conceding point as they made it up the porch and lightly knocked on the already-open door

“Come on in!” Eliza called out from the depths of the house. Entering, Astra was assaulted by a divine, otherworldly scent. It _couldn’t_ be. It was!

Fresh baked pumpkin pie!

She quickened her pace and rounded a corner to find both Kara and Alex sitting at the dining table, a veritable feast spread out before them

“Astra!” Eliza grinned and pulled her into a firm embrace “wish I’d known you were coming sooner,” she said as she pulled away “I’d gotten the air mattress out”

“Oh, that’s all right,” Astra dismissed, she hefted her bag “I have a sleeping bag, I’ll be fine”

“Nonsense,” Eliza declared “Alex, why don’t you take the air mattress and Astra will take the bed?”

“No way!” Alex objected “she’s slept on _rocks_ before! She’ll be fine!”

“It’s no trouble,” Astra insisted “Alex is exaggerating somewhat, but I _have_ slept in less than favorable conditions before. I’ll be fine on the floor”

“No, no,” Eliza shook her head “you’re a guest, its only fair”

Astra smirked and finally nodded, seeing that she wasn’t going to win this argument anytime soon, if ever.

“Very well then” she allowed

“Now then, James,” Eliza turned to James “bed or air mattress?”

“Oh, um…” James glanced past Eliza to Kara, a clear _‘help me!’_ expression in his eyes

“James can have my bed, and I’ll take the air mattress” Kara piped up

Eliza smiled “Good,” she nodded “now, I know that you two are dating, but, I suppose it goes without saying that I don’t want any…ahem…hinky business going on”

“Mom! Oh my god! Will you stop?!” Alex exclaimed, turning a very interesting shade of red “god! I don’t think they’ll do anything if Astra and I in the same room!”

“I should certainly hope not” Astra muttered as she helped herself to a very large slice of pie…

******

After the embarrassing—in Alex’s opinion—conversation about sleeping arrangements, Eliza had ordered everyone to sit down have a nice lunch, joining Astra in a lecture about the lack of quality organic foods in National City. After lunch, the group had planned to go out and take in the town. Well, Kara had planned that anyway, Alex and Astra were more than content to lounge around the house for the rest of the afternoon

“You sure you don’t want to join us?” Kara asked for the umpteenth time, car keys already in her hand, body halfway out the door. It was clear that she wanted to go regardless and was just asking for politeness’ sake

“Yes! God!” Alex rolled her eyes “just go, go, shoo, out”

“OK…” Kara said slowly. She gave her sister a critical eye before finally slipping out the door

“Thank god!” Alex muttered, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV

“So,” Astra began “I was wondering what it was…” she trailed off as Alex found some ‘caught on camera’ show and turned the volume up. Sighing, Astra leaned back against the couch and thought of ways to make Alex’s life miserable as payback…

******

“Everything OK with Alex?” James asked as the car wound its way down the twisting back roads, the setting sun making for a brilliant display of orange and reds besides them

“She’s…I don’t know,” Kara sighed, idly shifting gears “high school wasn’t very fun for either of us” she admitted

“I think that’s a universal concept” James chuckled. Kara smirked

“So,” she began “where do you want to go first?”

James shrugged “Your town, you pick”

Kara grinned “Then I know just the place”

With that she gunned the engine and the car lurched forward…

******

As Kara and James were painting the town red, Astra was puttering around the Danvers house, both bored and fascinated at the same time. There seemed to be pictures _everywhere_ , on every conceivable surface, big pictures, little pictures, pictures of the girls, pictures of people Astra didn’t recognize but assumed were distant relatives and late relations. An entire family’s genealogy it seemed, all told in eight by ten glossy.

She frowned as she examined a picture of the girls. Both girls each a boy on one arm, both smiling shyly for the camera. The boys were dressed in tuxedos and the girls in dresses, Astra frowned as she recalled a similar picture at Kara’s apartment, it was a dance, she recalled, a rite of passage for teenagers, a…senior…

“That was taken during the prom”

Astra jumped, the picture frame flying out of her hand. Gasping, she lunged and caught it in mid-flight. Panting, she carefully set it back down and turned to look at Eliza

“Sorry” she mumbled, feeling her face heat up. Eliza smirked and shook her head

“That’s all right, I have copies,” she smirked “hell, I have copies of copies,” she shrugged. She shook her head and nodded to the picture “the girls were both so nervous that night,” she explained “it was their first real dance with boys”

“They look quite…eager” Astra noted

Eliza smirked “They were,” she chuckled “I don’t know how things worked on Krypton, but here, a lot of times going to a dance with a boy is almost of a rite of passage for young girls”

Astra smirked “We had something similar,” she explained “more formalized, but…it was similar”

Eliza chuckled “Well, I’m hoping that your version didn’t end with people’s noses being broken”

Astra blinked “I beg your pardon?”

Eliza nodded “Alex and Kara both ended up breaking their dates’ noses” she explained

Astra frowned, not sure how to respond to that

“I’m assuming—hoping—that it was an accident?” she finally said

“It was,” Eliza nodded “well…Kara’s was anyway. Her date leaned in to kiss her apparently and she leaned in too fast and well…”

“Broke his nose,” Astra finished with a nod “but, how did Alex’s date break his if it wasn’t an accident?”

“Alex punched him”

Astra snorted “May I ask _why_ she punched him?”

“Apparently,” Eliza sighed “he tried to…uh, do you know what ‘getting fresh’ means?”

Astra smirked “I didn’t spend the last twenty four years under a rock”

Eliza chuckled “No, of course not. Anyway, Alex’s date apparently wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, so she…broke his nose, slammed his head right into a wall apparently”

“He sounds like an utterly _charming_ individual” Astra drawled

“Well, he was arrested a few years later for drug dealing, so…,” Eliza trailed off. She sighed “Astra,” she began “please don’t take this the wrong way, but…why did you come up here?”

Astra sighed “I suppose Alex hasn’t told you that we’re dating?”

Eliza sighed “No,” she shook her head “but I…suspected as much. Is it…serious?”

Astra nodded “I’m not Maggie,” she began “I would _never_ hurt her”

“How…long?” Eliza asked softly

“Almost two years now”

Eliza sighed “Why didn’t she tell me?” she wondered

Astra shrugged “Fear? Uncertainty? I don’t really know. I think perhaps, she was afraid of your reaction once you found out that she was dating her sister’s aunt”

Eliza shook her head “That wouldn’t have mattered to me. She and Kara are both adults. What they do, and who they do it with, as long as they’re both smart and safe about it…that doesn’t matter to me. What matters is she’s happy,” she frowned “is she? Happy I mean?”

“I’d like to think s—” Astra broke off at a clatter nearby. She frowned and x-rayed through the wall, sighing “Alex, I can _see_ you” she called out.

Alex sheepishly emerged from around the corner, refusing to meet either woman’s eye

“ _Oh, Alex,_ ” Eliza sighed, gathering her up “why didn’t you _tell_ me?”

“I don’t know,” Alex sighed, sniffling slightly “I just…,” she let out a frustrated sigh “Kara’s been bugging me to tell you forever, but…after Maggie…” she trailed off, while Astra scowled. Maggie was still a bone of contention between them, despite the whole mess having happened almost three years ago

“I know,” Eliza sighed. She pulled back to look at Astra, smiling teasingly “that ‘no sex’ rule applies to you too, you know”

Alex groaned “ _Mom!_ ”

******

The bedroom was surprisingly large. Astra smirked as she examined the furnishings, the posters on the walls, the pictures. It was fairly clear which girl had which side. On the right everything was almost exclusively science-related, whereas on the left there were pictures of the stars.

Setting her duffel down on the bed on the right, Astra walked over to the large bay window, settling down into the little raised alcove, examining the shelves on the walls and the bench seat. It was too dark to really see anything outside the window, even with her supervision (and she really needed to have a talk with Clark about his naming conventions), but she could hear the sea and smell it.

“I want to go to the beach before we leave” she announced as Alex came in

“OK,” Alex said, looking confused “hey, have you heard from Kara or James?” she asked as she unpacked her own bag

“I have,” Astra nodded “according to James she took him to an ice cream parlor and is now insisting on giving him the ‘grand tour’,” she finally turned from the darkened window and gave Alex a frown “should I be worried?” she asked

“Probably,” Alex acknowledged with a smirk “Kara on sugar isn’t exactly a pretty sight,” she set down her bag and joined Astra by the window “what are you looking at out there?” she wondered

“Nothing, really,” Astra shrugged. She smiled at Alex “is this your telescope?” she asked, nodding to the small telescope tucked away in a corner

“Oh. No,” Alex grimaced, memories of poor Kenny Li floated to the surface “ugh, no that actually belonged to a friend of ours. His parents gave it to us after he died” she explained

“What happened?” Astra asked

Alex sighed “He was killed, murdered actually,” she explained “he was good kid, nice, never bothered anybody, just…happened to have his telescope pointed in the wrong direction at the wrong time”

“And saw something that he shouldn’t have,” Astra reasoned I’m sorry,” she sighed “were you close?”

Alex shook her head “Not as close as I should have been,” she admitted. She sighed, knowing that Astra deserved answers “Kenny—that was his name—was actually more Kara’s friend than mine. Back then, oh god, I was still a self-absorbed little _brat_ , to teenage me, Kara wasn’t a friend, she was just this weird, annoying kid who my parents took in and _insisted_ that I treat like a sister. She was more of a threat back then, especially after my Dad died,” she sighed “anyway, one day, they found poor Kenny out in the woods, dead, and Kara and I both wanted answers, wanted to know who would do something like that and why”

“So you investigated” Astra reasoned

Alex nodded “We nearly got ourselves killed, but yeah, we did, and…oh boy, talk about poking a hornet’s nest. See, Kenny had the telescope hooked up to his computer, so he could take pictures of the stars, as well as other things. So, when one of Clark’s friends decrypted his laptop, we found out that the school’s star jock was a pot addict and got him suspended, one of my friends was dating her teacher, and got him arrested, and finally, that the killer was our own sheriff”

“The sheriff?” Astra echoed

Alex nodded “Turns out he’d been taking bribes and even some drugs from drug runs that came down from Canada,” she explained “Kenny saw it and apparently tried to confront him, and Sheriff Collins…”

“Killed him” Astra finished quietly

Alex nodded harshly “Shot him in the back no less,” she sat up suddenly, grabbing a slim file from Kara’s side of the room and bringing back “it was sad really,” she continued “because one of Kenny’s pictures was this” she held it out to Astra, the image of a young Kara gliding across the night sky filling the page

“He knew” Astra realized

“And he didn’t care,” Alex nodded “apparently, on the night he died he invited Kara out to go stargazing and tried to kiss her, but…she panicked and left”

“Shame,” Astra sighed “he sounds like a good person”

“He was” Alex acknowledged

“Was that why you didn’t want to attend the reunion?” Astra wondered

“Partly,” Alex agreed “and also just…see, after Kara and I solved Kenny’s murder, we got closer, that was when we really started seeing each other as sisters, but…to everyone else we’re trustworthy anymore, the fact that we’d confronted people about their secrets made us pariahs”

“They saw you as gossips, nosy busybodies,” Astra reasoned “people who would exploit their secrets for their own gains”

“Teenagers are jerks, aren’t they?” Alex snorted

“Yes they are” Astra nodded, thinking back to her own adolescence. Shaking the memories off, she pulled Alex close, pressing a kiss to her head…

******

Kara made a shushing motion as she creep inside the house, stifling her giggle as she did

“I never snuck in with a boy before” she whispered

James smirked, knowing that they were going to get caught, but enjoying Kara’s antics too much to care

“Quietly” he whispered as they inched up the stairs, sidestepping Eliza’s room, and _slowly_ creeping into the darkened bedroom. The two lumps on the bed indicated that Alex and Astra were fast asleep, Kara put her finger to her lips anyway, and gently scooping James up bridal style, floated up above the floor, gliding over the floorboards to reach her bed.

The light suddenly clicked on

“You two enjoy yourselves?”

Kara slowly turned, scowling as both Alex and Astra sat up and looked at them both expectantly

“I told you we were going to get caught” James sighed…

******

After a short, teasing lecture, Alex and Astra had left Kara and James get to sleep. Coming downstairs the next morning, Kara grimaced as she suddenly remembered that she’d signed up to be on the reunion committee

“Why in god’s name would you go and do a stupid thing like that?” Alex wondered as she all but drowned her pancakes in maple syrup. Watching the pancakes steadily disappear under the golden syrup, Astra grimaced and wondered how long it would take for Alex to develop diabetes. Judging from the amount of syrup she was using it wouldn’t be long.

“Because I got sucked into that whole ‘school spirit’ thing,” Kara answered with a groan, morosely pushing her spoon round her cereal bowl “and I _really_ wanted to go out with all of you today” she sighed

“That’s fine,” James assured her “I’m sure Alex will make a good tour guide”

Astra barked out a short, hysterical laugh

“Oh, sorry. Was that out loud?”

Alex threw a napkin at her head “Yes,” she growled “and what makes me a bad tour guide? How do you know?”

“Because I’ve been in cars with you. Suffice to say, if it weren’t for other agents driving, the DEO would never be able to complete their operations”

“Are you saying I suck at giving directions?”

“ _No_. I’m saying that you have _no_ sense of direction whatsoever” 

“And they’re off,” Kara rolled her eyes and looked at her boyfriend “is this like…their _thing_?” she wondered “I mean, is this how they say they like each other?”

James shrugged “I guess”

“All right you two, that’s enough!” Eliza ordered. She sighed as she came over with her own plate “it’s like having you and Kara as teenagers all over again” she grumbled

“Mom, why don’t you join us?” Alex suggested suddenly

Eliza smiled “Sorry, sweetie, I can’t. I’m working on a study for UC Berkeley, it has to done tonight”

“Damn” Alex muttered

“Why don’t we just wander?” Astra suggested

“What do you mean?” James asked

“Just wander,” Astra repeated “just walk around and see what we can find”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea” Alex agreed

“I do have those” Astra smirked…

******

The sightseeing trip, as it turned out, had first hit a snag after James had volunteered to help Kara at the reunion (odd, seeing as how he hadn't even gone to school there), leaving Alex and Astra to their lonesome. Ultimately the sightseeing trip had been a bust. Half of Alex’s old haunts were either gone or had changed beyond recognition. Finally the two women had just settled down at the local surf shack and had some crab rolls right on the beach, much to Astra's obvious delight

“Sorry this was such a bust” Alex apologized to Astra

“Why are you apologizing?” Astra wondered “I’m quite enjoying myself. And my lunch”

“I hope so,” Alex snorted “those twelve crab rolls cost me nearly fifty bucks!”

******

Night fell quickly this time of year, and before any of them knew it, the reunion was upon them

“OK,” Alex sighed as she came out of the bathroom “how’s this?”

“It’s lovely,” Astra replied. She came over and took Alex’s trembling hands “ _you’re_ lovely” she assured her

Alex let out a shuddering breath

“OK,” she sighed “let’s get this over with…”

******

They were a little late, mostly due to Alex dragging her feet, both figuratively and literally. But, soon, they walked into the gym at Midvale High School. The gym was decorated in the school colors—red and white—and a DJ had been hired to play a selection of hits from the early 2000s

Alex scowled as Astra held out a sticky nametag to her, which she stuck to her shirt with an air of a victim of torture

“Must you be such a gloomy gus?” Astra grumbled

“ ‘Gloomy gus’?” Alex echoed

“I’m trying to expand my English vocabulary,” Astra explained “how am I doing?”

“Not…so well. Did Winn teach you that?”

“No, Kara did”

“Of course she did

“My mangled attempts at using vernacular aside,” Astra began “my original point remains: must you be so angry? Just enjoy yourself. These are not alien hostiles. They’re not Kryptonians, or White Martians, or even—thank Rao—Daxamites. They’re just people”

“Riiiiiight,” Alex drawled “ ‘just people’. People who spent nearly four years making my life a living hell,” she stopped, Astra nearly colliding with her “shit!” Alex hissed

“What is it?” Astra asked, senses alert for danger

“Aw… _fuck!_ ”

Astra relaxed, recognizing that tone. That was Alex’s _‘this-is-complete-and-utter-bullshit-why-do-I-have-to-put-up-with-this?’_ tone, which meant danger of a very different sort

“Don’t tell me that Maggie’s here” she grumbled

“Huh? Oh. No, it’s not her, it’s…,” Alex sighed “remember last night, I told you about the teacher who was sleeping with one his students?” Astra nodded “well…she’s here,” she pointed to a thin woman standing by the buffet table “that’s Josie,” she sighed “god, she looks terrible”

Astra wasn’t sure how the woman was meant to look, but she could see how unusually thin the woman looked, her features gaunt. ‘Haggard’ would be a very good word to describe her

“Do you want to talk to her?” Astra wondered

“Oh god, no,” Alex shook her head frantically “no. Just…no. No way”

“That’s a shame,” Astra remarked “because she seems intent on talking to you”

“What?”

“She’s headed this way”

“Crap,” Alex hissed, visibly straightening her spine as she turned to face the other woman “Josie. Hi” she said, smiling awkwardly. The other woman scowled as she glanced between Alex and Astra

“I’m sorry,” Astra held out a hand “Astrid Starr,” she introduced herself “and you are?”

Josie’s eyes glinted dangerously as she looked between the two women

“She tell you what she did to me?” she demanded “huh? Did you tell you pretty little girlfriend here what you did, Alex?”

“Josie…” Alex tried

“You know what they did as his trial?” Josie interrupted “huh? His defense attorney pinned all the blame on me. Made me out to be some kind of _slut_!: she took a harsh breath “and now, thanks to you, my own parents will barely talk to me anymore”

“Josie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean---”

“Oh, you ‘didn’t mean’,” Josie mocked “oh well, that just makes it _all better_ , doesn’t it?” her hand suddenly lashed out, only for Astra to easily catch her wrist just before her open palm would have made contact with Alex’s face

“Please don’t,” the Kryptonian requested softly “whatever happened—whatever you _think_ she may have done—is in the past now. Leave it there. She didn’t have to come. In fact she didn’t want to, but she is here now. Either make amends if you wish, or leave her be. Your choice”

Josie sucked in a harsh breath before wrenching her hand free from Astra’s grip

“Bitch” she spat before stalking off

“Charming woman,” Astra drawled. She glanced at Alex “are you all right?” she asked softly

“I’m fine” Alex nodded harshly

“We can leave if you want” Astra offered

Alex shook her head “No. No, let’s just…get this over with”

******

As Alex attempted to mingle, Kara was introducing James to her small, but enthusiastic, group of high school friends, all of whom had _squealed_ excitedly as Kara rushed up to them. Even guys.

“So, what’s it like knowing Supergirl?” one of the cluster of friends—a bubbly woman with green hair—asked

“It’s not that special,” James dismissed “she’s really just a lot like us”

“Really? Even with all those cool powers?”

James nodded “Really. In fact, I have it on good authority that those powers oftentimes make her life harder than you’d think”

“Huh?” Green-hair moved off, looking contemplative. James looked around for Kara, finding her back at the buffet table (again) building herself a nice little tower of food. It was slow going as she actually eating from it as she was building it. James just smirked and shook his head, only Kara.

“James,” Astra lightly tapped his arm “have you seen Alex? I can’t find her”

“I haven’t seen her” James shook his head

“Me-nethrr!”

“Kara, chew first” Astra requested, grimacing

“Hey! There’s a cat fight out on the track!” someone suddenly called out

Astra groaned “Oh…no”

Kara and James looked at each other, confused

******

Alex stumbled back as Josie wildly swung out again. The other woman stinking drunk, someone had probably spiked the punch, or she brought her own liquor. Either way, she was completely, utterly, _plastered_.

“FIGHT ME!!!” Josie roared as she swung out again and again, and Alex for all her training, couldn’t dodge all of the blows. Already, she had the beginnings of a black eye.

A hand suddenly gripped Josie’s arm, stopping it just inches from hitting Alex’s other eye

“Go away before I make you regret ever coming here,” Astra growled out. Behind her a crowd had begun to form, as people clearly wanted to see what was going on. Scowling, Josie yanked her arm out of Astra’s grip and stumbled off. Turning, Astra addressed the crowd “fun’s over!” she ordered

“Come on, you heard her!” James barked out as he began ushering people back inside

“Let’s go, keep moving,” Kara added. Once the last person had finally shuffled off back inside, she and James rushed forwards to Alex’s side “are you OK?!” Kara demanded

“I’m fine, I’m fine” Alex dismissed, waving off Kara’s hands

“That eye looks pretty bad, maybe we should take you the hospital” James suggested

“And have her mother find out? Ha, perish the thought,” Astra sighed as she looped one of Alex’s arms over her shoulders “I’ll look after her” she explained “you two go on and your fun”

“You sure, Aunt Astra?” Kara asked uncertainly, she only called Astra ‘aunt Astra’ now if she was genuinely worried about something

“I promise you, she will be fine, little one,” Astra vowed “go on, enjoy yourselves”

Still looking uncertain, both James and Kara slowly edged back inside, leaving Astra and Alex alone on the darkened track field. Sighing, Astra looked Alex up and down

“You look like shit” she stated bluntly

“Sweet talker, you always know just what to say to make me feel better”

Astra sighed “That state your eye is in worries me” she pointed out as they began to lazily walk the length of the track

“Ah,” Alex waved a hand “I’ll be fine. Hey, I got a Hellgermite’s barb in my leg once, remember?”

“Our first date,” Astra quipped. She sobered “do you want to go back inside?”

“No”

“Do you want to press charges?”

“No,” Alex sighed “Josie’s been through enough crap over the years. Hell, after what I did, I probably deserved it”

Astra pulled her to a stop, looking her squarely in the eye

“ _Never_ say that to me again,” she growled “do you hear me? Never. You are worth far more than you give yourself credit for, Alex”

“Yeah, well…sometimes it doesn’t feel like it” Alex sighed as they began walking again

“Remind me again,” Astra began “who convinced me to come in and help free Kara from the black mercy?”

Alex sighed “I did”

“And who convinced me to reveal what Myriad was?”

“I did”

“And who convinced me to turn against Non and the rest of the Fort Rozz escapees?”

“I did”

“And who convinced J’onn to let me join the DEO as a consultant?”

“I did”

“And,” Astra pulled her to a stop again “who convinced me that I could be loved again?”

Alex finally smiled “Winn?”

Astra snorted, grinning madly “No. You did, you silly goose”

Alex barked out a laugh “OK, we have _got_ to get you a new teacher, because Kara sucks at this”

“She tells me that she learned it all from you. So, you have only yourself to blame for my loose-brained ramblings”

“She would blame me, wouldn’t she?”

******

The rest of the reunion passed with only minor incident. Kara and Alex had both gotten teary eyed over a touching memorial to the late Kenny Li, partly done by Kara herself, and Josie had made herself scarce. Upon returning to the house, Eliza had understandably fussed and fretted over Alex upon seeing the black eye, torn between protective, smothering worry and righteous fury. But, after calming down, had agreed with Alex that Josie had been through enough over the years and declared the matter dropped.

“OK, sandwiches, sparkling water, sodas, and two pies,” Eliza handed the large cooler to Alex with a smile, grimacing as she fingered Alex’s eye, but said nothing. She hefted another cooler and held it out to Astra “one large pumpkin pie, as requested”

Astra beamed “Thank you, Eliza”

Eliza shook her head “No. Thank you, Astra”

Astra shook her head “For what?”

“For making Alex smile again” Eliza explained

Astra blushed

“Aw, you’re blushing!” Alex laughed “oh! I am _so_ taking a picture and sending it to Kara!”

Astra gripped her arm “Do it. I dare you” she warned

Alex put her phone away

“Spoilsport” she muttered

“OK, guys, we better get going if we’re going to miss the traffic” James called out from the car

“OK,” Alex waved and then turned to Eliza, pulling her into a hug “love you”

“I love you too,” Eliza smiled as she pulled away “drive safe,” she urged “Astra? I want you to keep an eye on this one” she called out

Astra beamed 

“I’ll keep both on her, will that do?” she laughed

“OK,” Kara held up her phone “uh, Lucy and Winn want to have dinner with all of us, and J’onn wants Alex, Astra, and I to report to the DEO as soon as we get in. And if we scratch his car he’s putting us all in containment” she announced

“Men and their cars,” Astra shook her head “you’d think it was a portion of their anatomy,” she muttered as Kara moved to get into the drivers seat “ah,” Astra pulled her back “I’ll be driving, thank you”

“Aunt Astra, come on!” Kara pouted

“Oh no,” Alex shook her head “you nearly got all us killed _twice_ on the drive over. We talked it over last night. Astra’s driving”

“Hey I’m a great driver!” Kara protested “that possum came out of _nowhere_ ”

“What about the squirrel?” Alex challenged

“And the raccoon” Astra added

“Wasn’t there a duck too?” James wondered

“James! You…traitor!” Kara swatted him in the arm

“Majority vote, sis,” Alex nodded towards Astra “keys, hand ‘em over to the General”

Kara sighed and then, very reluctantly, handed the keys to Astra

“If I’m such a bad driver then why didn’t anybody say so yesterday?” she wondered as they all climbed in, Alex and Astra up front, Kara and James in the back with the luggage

“Because yesterday, dying in a fiery inferno sound so much more preferable than having to listen to you and Alex bickering,” Astra explained “today, we’d all like to avoid that particular fate” she added as she started the engine, the radio flaring to life, P!nk’s _‘So What’_ blaring out.

Grinning, Astra turned up the volume, while Alex laughed. As they drove back down the PCH, all singing along to the song like idiots they all knew that tomorrow would bring more world-ending threats, but for right now, in this moment they could just enjoy the freedom to just be normal

Whatever ‘normal’ was…

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! Well, there you have it, my first real single-chapter story, took me nearly three days to write it, so I hope everybody liked it. Let me know what you thought :=)


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